Improvement in treating wood, straw



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

n. L. JONES AND D. S. FARQUHARSON, OE Rooi-TESTER, N Y.,"I'SSIGNORS To THEMSELVES, ALBERT M. HASTINGS, AND ALEXANDER MGVEAN, OE

SAME PLAGE.

IMPROVEMENT IN TREATING WOOD, STRAW, dc., FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER-PULP.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 55,418, dated June 5, 1866.

o all whom it may concern.:

Be it known that we, HENRY L. JONES and DUNCAN S. FARQUHARSON, of Rochester, Monroe county, State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Mode of Treating Straw, Wood, or any other Fibrons Material used in or for the Manufacture of Paper-Pulp, by subjecting the same to the action of alkaline liquor under hydrostatic pressure of the liquor itself, without steam-pressure, as a preparation for the bleaching thereof in the forms usually adopted with convenient machinery or apparatus for the application of such principle, which is an improvement upon that for which Letters Patent were issued to us March 13, 1866, No. 53,152 5 and we do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

The nature of our invention and improvement thereon consists in subjecting the straw, wood, or other fiber to the action of alkali-liquor ot' suitable strength under the hydrostaticpressure of thc liquor itself, without steampressure, in a tight vessel capable of resisting pressure. Ihe material to be acted upon, after being cut up into short lengths or into small pieces for convenience of working, is placed in a hollow cylinder or other convenient vessel, into which the alkali-liquor of suitable temperature is forced by a force-pump or by any other mechanical appliance by which the hydrostatic-pressure of the liquor upon the material can be obtained.

In order that others skilledin the art to which our invention appertains may be enabled fully to understand and use the same, we will proceed to describe it in detail in connection with one form of apparatus whereby it may be carried into effect.

In thc drawings hereto annexed, A represents a hollow cylinder into which the material to be acted upon is placed.

B represents a pipe through which the cylinder A communicates with the vat 0,0011- taining the alkali-liquor, which is forced from the vat C through the pipe B into the cylinder A by means of a pump, D, which may be operated by power. In this way the alkali- "liquor is forced into the cylinder A containing the material to be acted upon Linder pressure sufficient to thoroughly impregnate and disintegrate the material. The chemical action which takes place is by this process accelerated and rendered much more efficient and thorough than it is underI the methods ordinarily used. The amount of pressure required will depend upon the material to be acted upon. The liquor may be used cold, or may be heated to any desirable temperature and forced in while hot, in order to facilitate the process, and the vessel containing the material to he acted upon may be rotated or agitated by any mechanical appliance in order also to quicken thc operation. The material is introduced into the cylinder A through a man-hole at A, through which the contents vof the cylinder are discharged, after the process is completed, into a receiving-tank, E, provided with afalse bottom for drainage. The material may then be cleansed from the coloring-matter and of other waste material by washing with water in a vat or tank or in the ordinary paper-engine, and it is then ready for bleaching.

An appara-tus consisting of the above-described parts or their equivalents is all that is necessary to carry out our invention; but we will now proceed to describe devices which perform certain functions which render the operation of theapparatus more perfect.

The cylinder A is mounted upon friction-rollers R R, supported by the frames S S, made of sufficient strength to support the weight of the cylinder and at the same time act as bearings for a rotary motion to be communicated to the cylinder A.

F is a spur-gear bolted on one end of the cylinder A.

Gis a pinion attached to a small countershaft, on which may be keyed a driving-pulley, by which a slow rotary motion may be communicated to the cylinder A.

H is a short crank or arm keyed to the opposite end of the above-described counter-shaft to which is attached the connecting-rod of the force-pump D, which forces the liquor through the pipe B from the vatGinto the cylinder A.

The safety-valve K, held down by an adjustable weight, is placed below the dischargingvalve of the pump D, and communicates with the pump-barrel below the plunger or piston,

so that when the pressure becomes excessive the valve is raised, and when raised a secondary valve is raised, which allows the liquid to flow back to the vat C.

The stop-cock O is closed when sufficient pressure is obtained, and the pressure is thus allowed to continue until the process is completed.

The stop-cock P, at the opposite end of the cylinder A, is intended to relieve thepressure when the process is completed, and to allow the excess oi' liquid to iiow back through the pipe I into the vat C.

The above-described apparatus furnishes a convenient method for applying our invention but we state explicitlyr that we do not intend to confine ourselves to any lparticular apparatus, but propose to avail ourselves of such modifications as may be found desirable.

Having thus described our invention, the following is what we claim as new and desire to protect by the issue of Letters Patent:

1. The subd uing` of stra\v,wood,orany fibrous material to be converted into paper-pulp by subjecting the saine to the action ot' alkali-liquor of any desirable temperature applied under the hydrostatic pressure of the liquid itself, applied by a force-pump or otherwise, instead of using` steam-pressure, preparatory to the bleaching` of such material iu the ordinary methods, substantially as above described.

2. lhe combination, with the cylinder A, of the pump D and pipe B, substantially as and for the purposes above set forth.

3. The safety-valve K, in combination with the pump D, below the piston or plunger, and in direct communication with the pump-barrel, substantially as above described.

Rochester, New York, March 31, 1866.

HENRY L. JONES. D. S. FARQUHARSON.

Witnesses:

J. W. KnEPPs, DE L. URI'LTENDEN. 

